Wednesday, February 27, 2013

An Act to prevent the Immigration of Free Negroes into this State.[Approved Feb. 12,1853.]

Sec. I. Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly, That if any person or persons shall bring, or cause to be brought into this State, any negro or mulatto slave, whether said slave is set free or not, shall be liable to an indictment, and, upon conviction thereof, be fined for every such negro or mulatto, a sum not less than one hundred dollars, nor more than five hundred dollars, and imprisoned in the county jail not more than one year, and shall stand committed until said fine and costs are paid.

Sec. II. When an indictment shall be found against any person or persons, who are not residents of this State, it shall be the duty of the court before whom said indictment is pending, upon affidavit being made and filed in said court by the prosecuting attorney, or any other credible witness, setting forth the non-residence of said defendant, to notify the governor of. this State, by causing the clerk of said court to transmit to the office of the secretary of State a certified copy of said indictment and affidavit; and it shall be the duty of the governor, upon the receipt of said copies, to appoint some suitable person to arrest said defendant or defendants, in whatever State or county he or they may be found, and to commit him or them to the jail of the county in which said indictment is pending, there to remain and answer said indictment, and be otherwise dealt with in accordance with this act. And it shall be the duty of the governor to issue all necessary requisitions, writs and papers to the governor or other executive officer of the State, territory or province where such defendant or defendants may be found : Provided, That this section shall not be construed so as to affect persons, or slaves, bona fide traveling through this State from and to any other State in the United States.

Sec. III. If any negro, or mulatto, bond or free, shall hereafter come into this State and remain ten days, with the evident intention of residing in the same, every such negro or mulatto shall be deemed guilty of a high misdemeanor, and for the first offense shall be fined the sum of fifty dollars, to be recovered before any justice of the peace in the county where said negro or mulatto may be found. Said proceedings shall be in the name of the people of the State of Illinois, and shall be tried by a jury of twelve men. The person making the information or complaint shall not be a competent witness upon said trial

Sec. IV. If said negro or mulatto shall be found guilty, and the fine assessed be not paid forthwith to the justice of the peace before whom said proceedings wore had, it shall be the duty of said justice to commit said negro or mulatto to the custody of the sheriff of said county, or otherwise keep him, her or them in custody; and said justice shall forthwith advertise said negro or mulatto, by posting up notices thereof in at least three of the most public places in his district, which said notices shall be posted up for ten days, and on the day and at the time and place mentioned in said advertisement, the said justice shall, at public auction, proceed to sell said negro or mulatto to any person or persons who will pay said fine and costs, for the shortest time ; and said purchaser shall have the right to compel said negro or mulatto to work for and serve out said time, and he s-hall furnish said negro or mulatto with comfortable food, clothing and lodging during said servitude.

Sec. V. If said negro or mulatto shall not, within ten days after the expiration of his, her or their time of service as aforesaid, leave the State, he, she or they shall be liable to a second prosecution, in which the penalty to be inflicted shall be one hundred dollars, and so on for every subsequent offense the penalty shall be increased fifty dollars over and above the last penalty inflicted, and the same proceedings shall be had in each case as is provided for in the preceding sections for the first offense.

Sec. VI. Said negro or mulatto shall have a right to take an appeal to the circuit court of the county in which said proceedings shall have been had, within five days after the rendition of the judgment, before the justice of the peace, by giving bond and security, to be approved by the clerk of said court, to the people of the State of Illinois, and to be filed in the office of said clerk within said five days, in double the amount of said fine and costs, conditioned that the party appealing will personally be and appear before said circuit court, at the next term thereof, and not depart said court without leave, and will pay said fine and all costs, if the same shall be so adjudged by said court; and said security shall have the right to take said negro or mulatto into custody, and retain the same until the order of said court is complied with. And if the judgment of the justice of the peace be affirmed in whole or in part, and said negro or mulatto be found guilty, the said circuit court shall thereupon render judgment against said negro or mulatto and the security or securities on said appeal bond, for the amount of fine so found by the court, and all costs of suit, and the clerk of said court shall forthwith issue an execution against said defendant and security as in other cases, and the sheriff or other officer to whom said execution is directed, shall proceed to collect the same by sale or otherwise: Provided, That this section shall not be so construed as to give the security on said appeal bond right to retain the custody of said negro or mulatto for a longer time than ten days after the rendition of said judgment by said circuit court.

Sec. VII. In all cases arising under the provisions of this act, the prosecuting witness, or person making the complaint and prosecuting the same, shall be entitled to one-half of the fine so imposed and collected, and the residue of said fine shall be paid into the county treasury of the county in which said proceedings were had; and said fines, when so collected, shall be received by said county treasurer, and kept by him as a distinct and separate fund, to be called the " charity fund ;" and said fund shall be used for the express and only purpose of relieving the poor of said county, and shall be paid out by said treasurer upon the order of the county court of said county, drawn upon him for that purpose.

Sec. VIII. If, after any negro or mulatto shall have been arrested under the provisions of this act, any person or persons shall claim .any such negro or mulatto as a slave, the owner, by himself, or agent, shall have a right, by giving reasonable notice to the officer or person having the custody of said negro or mulatto, to appear before the justice of the peace before whom said negro or mulatto shall have been arrested, and prove his or their right to the custody of said negro or mulatto as a slave, and if said justice of the peace shall, after hearing the evidence, be satisfied that the person or persons claiming said negro or mulatto, is or are the owner or owners of and entitled to the custody of said negro or mulatto, in accordance with the laws of the United States passed upon this subject, he shall, upon the owner or agent paying all costs up to the time of claiming said negro or mulatto, and the costs of proving the same, and also the balance of the fine remaining unpaid, give to said owner a certificate of said facts, and said owner or agent so claiming, shall have a right to take and remove said slave out of this State.

Sec. IX. If any justice of the peace shall refuse to issue any writ or process necessary for the arrest and prosecution of any negro or mulatto under the provisions of this act, upon complaint being made before said justice by any resident of his county, and his fees for said service being tendered him, he shall be deemed guilty of nonfeasance in office, and upon conviction thereof, punished accordingly; and in all cases where the jury find for the negro or mulatto, or that he, she or they are not guilty under the provisions of this act, the said justice of the peace shall proceed to render judgment against the prosecuting witness, or person making the complaint, and shall collect the same as other judgments: Provided, That said prosecuting witness, or person making said complaint, in case judgment is rendered against him, shall have a right to take an appeal to the circuit court, as is provided for in this act, in case said negro or mulatto is found guilty. Sec. X. Every person who shall have one-fourth negro blood, shall be deemed a mulatto. Sec. XI. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after its passage.

Sec. XII. If any person or persons shall permit or suffer any slave or slaves, servant or servants of color, to the number of three or more, to assemble in his, her or their out-house, yard or shed, for the purpose of dancing or reveling, either by night or by day, the person or persons so offending shall forfeit and pay the sum of twenty dollars with costs, to any person or persons who will sue for and recover the same by action of debt or by indictment, in any court of record proper to try the same.

Sec. XIII. It shall be the duty of all coroners, sheriffs, judges and justices of the peace, who shall see or know of, or be informed of any such assemblage of slaves or servants, immediately to commit such slaves or servants to the jail of the county, and on view or proof thereof, order each and every such slave or servant to be whipped, not exceeding thirty-nine stripes, on his or her bare back, on the day next succeeding such assemblage, unless it shall happen on a Sunday, then on the Monday following; which said stripes shall be inflicted by any constable of the township, if there should be one therein, or otherwise, by any person or persons whom the said justices shall appoint, and who shall be willing so to inflict the same: Provided, however, That the provisions hereof shall not apply to any persons of color who may assemble for the purpose of amusement, by permission of their masters, first had in writing, on condition that no disorderly conduct is made use of by them in such assemblage

Monday, February 25, 2013

Illinois was “almost a slave state” and had “a slave code that was harsher and wider in scope than some of those in the South.” Robert P. Howard (129-131)

The man Lincoln called his “special friend” Ward H. Lamon said that the Ill. Black Code, “was of the most preposterous and cruel severity, a code that would have been a disgrace to a slave state and was simply and infamy in a free one. It borrowed the provisions of the most revolting laws known among men, for exiling, selling, beating, bedeviling and torturing Negroes, whether bond or free.” They were not repealed until after the war and Lincoln never said a word against them. My my my….what they don’t teach in schools.

Blacks had no legal rights a white man was bound to respect and it was a crime for them to settle in Illinois unless they could prove their freedom and post a $1000 bond. Any black man found without a certificate of freedom was considered a runaway and could be apprehended and auctioned off by the sheriff to pay the cost of his confinement. None of this seemed to bother Lincoln.

The architect of the Negro Exclusion Law, undoubtedly the most severe anti-Negro measure passed by a state was John A. Logan (future Lincoln appointee Union General and Chicago CW icon).

“punishment enough for Blacks to live among such cruel, inhospitable beings as the residents of Illinois, not to mention the additional burden of having to live under such a law.” Horace Greeley

“an act of special and savage ruthlessness.” New Orleans Bee( thanks to Robert Mestas for posting this info )

Thursday, February 21, 2013

NAACP And Sons of Confederate Veterans Join Forces Against KKK

(Memphis) On the set of News Channel 3 Live at 9, it could be described as the unlikely joining of two groups coming together to show they oppose the hatred of the KKK.

Lee Millar of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and Pastor Keith Norman, the new president of the NAACP, sat side by to say they don’t want the Klan to hold a rally in Memphis next month.

“We don’t believe in anything they stand for and we’re together on that and wish the Klan wouldn’t come to Memphis,” Millar said.

Norman said the KKK doesn’t need to come here and it’s seeking relevancy.

“They’re a declining organization without a purpose and they’re looking to ride the coattails of an event or have a resurgence and we don’t want to give it to them,” Norman said.

The two organizations are asking Memphis to ignore the KKK if its members are allowed to hold a rally in Memphis next month.

“To ignore them completely and not give them the attention they’re hoping to gain,” Norman said.

The Sons of Confederate Veterans said it doesn’t share the same principles with the modern-day KKK.

“The Sons of Confederate Veterans is interested in preserving battlefields and promoting our history sometimes tied into that (KKK), but the SCV has no connection to that and oppose the principles of the KKK,” Millar said.

The KKK applied for a permit to rally in Memphis. It’s against the renaming of Nathan Bedford Forrest Park, Confederate Park and Jefferson Davis Park.

But Millar and Norman say Memphians can better resolve this dispute without the KKK.

“We have to look at how we go about moving forward when it comes to the Council, historians and other people concerned about the issue. We have to look at the economic impact, emotional impact and philosophical impact,” Norman said.

Millar said education is also the key to understanding the city’s past.

“The parks should be enhanced and educational opportunities, provided though historic panels, so that people will have a better understanding of our history and parks,” Millar said.

It’s a new understanding and a symbolic handshake two groups hope will send a strong message against hate.

“For Memphis to stay home on that Saturday and we’re(the two shake hands) together on this and promote Memphis,” Millar said.

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

The Suffolk News-Herald

David Tatum admits he takes his hobby a little overboard.
In fact, he said, he’s even a little “obsessive-compulsive” about it.
Some of his neighbors might agree — after all, the occasional sound of cannon fire just doesn’t blend very well with the into the quiet environment of White Marsh Road.
However, everything Tatum does — from his projectile-free cannon fire to his collection of hundreds of pieces of Confederate memorabilia — is simply to honor his ancestors, he says.
“Maybe I take it a little overboard, but I do what I want to do,” he said.
Inside his home on the western edge of the Great Dismal Swamp National Wildlife Refuge, an entire room is filled with Confederate flags, model cannons, books on the Confederacy, and his rarest piece — his great-grandfather’s original certificate of service in the Confederate Army.
However, the crowning achievement of Tatum’s quest to honor his ancestors is the memorial to his great-grandfather in his front yard.

Tatum’s great-grandfather, J.C. Tatum, was a member of the Richmond Howitzers during the Civil War. The Richmond Howitzers, organized by a grandson of Thomas Jefferson around 1859, had grown to a battalion of three companies by 1861. The unit fought throughout the war, serving at Manassas, Gettysburg and Cold Harbor, among others, and was present at the surrender in Appomattox.

For a long time, however, Tatum was unable to locate his great-grandfather’s gravesite — so he chose to make a memorial to him in his own front yard.

The monument began as a pyramid-style stack of discarded wood that Tatum took from construction sites he worked on. Atop the simple structure, Tatum placed a cannon, made of concrete, and a concrete Confederate soldier, purchased at the lawn art section of a local garden store and painted to look like an artilleryman.

Tatum thought that was the end of his monument-building. However, several events then occurred in quick succession — someone stole the cannon, he found his great-grandfather’s gravesite (next to his grandparents), and he lost his job.

That gave him not only plenty of time, but also the motivation to make the monument bigger and better.

Tatum had stockpiled an assortment of rocks from his job sites throughout Virginia, and he put these to good use. He stacked the rocks over the old wood frame and filled in the cracks with brick mortar to hold them in place. He then created an emblem with the seal of Virginia out of plaster of Paris, and placed the emblem on the front and back of the monument.

He made a new cannon and perched it atop the structure, and then gave the soldier a new cannon ramrod made of a painted piece of broomstick and a painted Pepsi can.

Now that the improvements are “almost done,” he’s contemplating a new monument, perhaps on the other side of his property.

“It’s not there to offend anyone,” he said of the monument, which elicited a complaint from a neighbor to the city when he first built it. A city inspector determined that Tatum didn’t need a permit, and he kept on building.

“Now it has that antique look,” he joked of the structure.

Tatum insists that the monument isn’t out there to offend anybody. He’s seen tour buses headed to the Great Dismal Swamp ride past, slowing down for cameras snapping photos through open windows.

“It’s a labor of love,” he said. “I love and respect my ancestors for what they did for Virginia.”